Twenty-First Century Populism The Spectre of Western European Democracy

Why have populists recently done so well in established Western European democracies such as France, Italy, Holland and Switzerland? What determines the success or failure of these parties? Why have they fared better in some countries rather than others?Twenty-First Century Populismanswers these questions by looking at the interplay between the structural factors which facilitate the rise of populism and the agency of those populist actors which have emerged in Western Europe.

DANIELE ALBERTAZZI is Lecturer in European Media at the University of Birmingham, UK, where he leads the Culture, Society and Communication programmes. His research focuses on political communication, as well as Italian and Swiss politics. Daniele is currently co-editing (with Charlotte Ross and Clodagh Brook) Resisting the Tide: Cultures of Opposition during the Berlusconi Years (forthcoming) and (with Paul Cobley) The Media: An Introduction, third edition (forthcoming).

DUNCAN MCDONNELL is Dottorando di Ricerca in the Department of Political Studies, University of Turin, Italy, where he is conducting research on the relationship between directly-elected local leaders and political parties. He is also involved in projects on new parties in government and political leadership in Western Europe.